Numerical studies of droplet splashing on a dry surface: triggering a splash with the dynamic contact angle

Abstract

We numerically investigate water droplet splashing on a dry, flat and smooth surface. Our numerical framework can reproduce a prompt splash with satellite droplets and spikes at least qualitatively. The numerical results have shown that the dynamic contact angle can trigger a prompt splash without the roughness of a solid surface. We also propose a possible mechanism for how the splash (satellite droplets and spikes) gains the vertical momentum component without the roughness based on the dynamic contact angle.